


In the Library at Night

by ozuttly



Category: Fate/Grand Order
Genre: Books, M/M, Nightmares, Which leads to bonding, mentions some trauma but it's just a set up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-01
Updated: 2021-01-01
Packaged: 2021-03-11 05:06:52
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28489521
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ozuttly/pseuds/ozuttly
Summary: Ritsuka meets Arjuna, and the two share an unexpected interest in novels.
Relationships: Arjuna | Archer/Fujimaru Ritsuka
Comments: 3
Kudos: 25





	In the Library at Night

Chaldea, for all that it is humanity’s last hope against the singularities and the demon god pillars, is not really all that structured of a place to live. Servants could be unpredictable and obstinate at the best of times, and the staff had learned very early on that trying to get them all to adhere to a regular schedule was like trying to herd a bunch of cats. It was decided that all areas of the facility would be open and free to use, so long as those using them were courteous enough to clean up after themselves when they were done. The staff themselves have their duties, and Ritsuka can’t say that being humanity’s last master is an easy job, but he likes the laxness of the place itself. 

It reminds him more of a college dorm than anything else, with everyone coming and going as they please. He had been admittedly nervous when he was brought on as a candidate back in the beginning, before the incineration of humanity, but the presence and personalities of his servants have really helped him to relax into his role. 

Mostly. 

The dreams suck. Not so much the servant related dreams, because those always have a purpose, and they make him feel useful after he wakes up, but the regular old nightmares take a long time to get used to. They start after Singularity F, when he falls asleep and wakes up to the sound of Olga Marie screaming in pain and terror, begging for help while he’s unable to do anything. The first time it happens he wakes up in a cold sweat, gasping for breath with his hands shaking. Mash is at his bedside, her eyes wide with worry, but he can’t actually bring himself to tell her about it. 

She’s doing so much for him already, and they’re just nightmares. She probably has enough of her own to deal with, and he can get used to it. 

He does, eventually. The panic attacks after he wakes up become less frequent, and he adjusts to his sleep being interrupted most nights. It becomes his new normal, as with so many things that he could never have imagined months before. It’s always hard to get back to sleep after the really bad ones, though. Sometimes he lays in bed shaking for what feels like hours, a hand clutched to his chest to make sure that he’s still alive and in one piece. 

On those nights, he wanders. 

Chaldea is a fully equipped facility with so many different rooms and amenities that he had stuck to his familiar spots at first. He’d gotten lost many times in the first few weeks, and it was a bit embarrassing to seek out a staff member and ask them to help him back to his room. But at night, when the halls are all but empty, there’s nothing to really do but explore. 

After a few months, he feels like he knows the whole colossal place like the back of his hand. He’s found a few usual haunts that he likes to go to at night, like the gym and the cafeteria, but after a while, his favourite is the library. He’d never really been a bookworm before, but Chaldea has a rather fascinating selection of fiction novels hidden between the magical texts, and reading helps distract him from the dreams and memories. 

Usually it’s empty at three in the morning. The writer servants have their own room they’ve converted into a study, and the recreational library is mostly used by the human staff during the daytime. He’s never run into anyone there before, but one night, about a month after the American singularity is dealt with, he finds that he’s not alone as he sneaks between the high bookshelves. 

Arjuna is there. 

He’s sitting with his back against the wall, one knee drawn up to his chest and a book in his hand. There’s a cup of tea from the cafeteria resting in a saucer on the floor beside him, and Ritsuka knows that if the librarian were here, she’d have a fit. But Arjuna looks the most relaxed that Ritsuka has ever seen him as he absently brings the cup to his lips, his eyes still on the page in front of him. 

Until Ritsuka moves, and his eyes snap up with a start. 

Ritsuka half expects the teacup to shatter and an arrow to be pointed to his throat. The look on Arjuna’s face reminds him of a deer in the headlights before his expression shutters, and he calmly sets his cup down as though nothing happened. His posture is guarded now, though, and Ritsuka finds himself missing the picture of peace that he had been only moments before. 

“Master,” Arjuna says, his tone cool as always. “Did you need something?” 

Ritsuka feels frozen for only a split second before he hums contemplatively. He hadn’t, really. If Arjuna wanted to be alone, he could leave the library for the night and go to the cafeteria instead. But something keeps him rooted to the spot. 

“Not really,” he says casually. “I wasn’t expecting anyone to be here, actually. I thought I might come and grab a book...” 

He trails off as he looks at the cover of the book in Arjuna’s hands. His face brightens, and without thinking he steps in to get a closer look. 

“Oh, that’s a really good one!” he exclaims, even as Arjuna presses back against the wall as though fleeing from him. It’s one of the first books he’d read in the library, back when he was itching for any kind of distraction. He’d never heard of the author before, and he has a feeling that they’re not well known, but the story had drawn him in in a way that few books had ever done before. He was delighted when he realized that it was part of a series. 

“Are you enjoying it?” he asks, smiling at the servant who seems stiff and uncomfortable beside him. Arjuna frowns as Ritsuka takes a seat against the wall by his side, any reservations clearly forgotten, and he shifts subtly away from him.

“Not particularly. There isn’t really much point to this kind of fiction,” Arjuna says, though Ritsuka takes note of his place in the book, well more than half-way through. It’s quite the lengthy tome, and he finds himself grinning. 

“So you say, but you’ve gotten pretty far into it,” he teases, leaning over to see where Arjuna is in the story. Arjuna shifts again, unused to people being so close to him, but he doesn’t actually get up. Getting up would be like running away, and he isn’t going to run from the master who contracted him. His face sours, and he snaps the book shut. 

“It’s a way to pass the time, is all,” he says, but his finger is keeping his place, and Ritsuka looks a bit smug when he notices. 

“Hmm, alright then, whatever you say,” he says in a teasing tone, and Arjuna bristles ever so slightly. But it doesn’t feel like he’s being mocked, and Ritsuka is far more interested in the book in his hands than prodding at him further. “It gets really good soon, you know? Right when the protagonist and the heroine meet up again, and it seems like everything is going to go well for them for once.” 

Arjuna purses his lips. He opens his mouth to say that he’s not interested, but that would be lying. He had been intrigued, wondering where the story could go after the lovers’ tumultuous reunion at the end of their kingdoms’ war. He knew that it couldn’t be the end, and he had been too engrossed and curious to put the book down, but he doesn’t really want to tell his master that. He lifts his teacup to his lips instead, not looking at Ritsuka’s face as he makes a noncommittal sound. 

Ritsuka smiles at him, even as his excitement calms into a relaxed silence. He seems brighter that he had when he comes in as he reaches across the aisle to pull a book from the nearby shelf, and Arjuna has no idea why. He’s not exactly good company. 

But he can’t leave without drawing his master’s suspicion, so he lingers until his teacup is empty. His finger is still folded into the pages of the book, but he doesn’t feel like he can read with somebody else so close by, so he stands up to put it back on the shelf. He’s going to take his cup back to the kitchen, though Ritsuka grabs his sleeve to stop him. 

“Here,” he says, and Arjuna looks down to see a bookmark in his hand. He scrunches up his face as his master grins. 

“I don’t really need it,” he mutters. 

He takes it anyways. 

*** 

Ritsuka doesn’t know if he’s expecting something when he goes back to the library the next night, but he’s a bit disappointed when Arjuna isn’t there. Still, he’s not going back to sleep anytime soon, so he settles in against the wall with his book from last night and continues where he left off. 

*** 

A week later, Ritsuka has almost forgotten about his encounter with Arjuna in the library, so he startles a bit when he sees the servant sitting there when he arrives. Arjuna doesn’t startle this time, clearly expecting him. He has his teacup by his side, but it’s only half full, and Ritsuka wonders if he’s been waiting a while. 

“Here,” Arjuna says as he holds the bookmark out towards his master. “I’m returning this.”

Ritsuka blinks, looking at it for a moment to try and place what it was before the memory returns, and he smiles as he takes it back. 

“So? Did you finish the book?” he asks, settling in beside Arjuna despite the stiffness of his shoulders. The servant eyes him carefully, like he isn’t quite sure what his game is, but Ritsuka just smiles at him. Slowly, the tension in Arjuna’s body relaxes. 

“It… was acceptable,” he says, though there’s a slight downturn to his lips as he does. His brow is furrowed, and Ritsuka finds himself wanting to reach over and smooth it out. 

Arjuna doesn’t really like to be touchy feely, though. Some servants enjoyed physical contact more than others, and Ritsuka has learned how to eek out their personal tastes. 

“Have you started the sequel yet?” Ritsuka asks instead, and Arjuna shakes his head. He seems relieved, though, in an odd way. 

“I was unaware there was one,” he answers. Ritsuka looks at him with big wide eyes, and then chuckles. 

“No wonder you seemed dissatisfied,” he laughs. “It would be way too depressing if the story ended there.” 

Arjuna, for a moment, looks surprised. Then the look that passes his face changes. It becomes darker, something more akin to envy and regret. 

“It isn’t uncommon for stories to end in tragedy,” he says, and Ritsuka goes still next to him. 

He doesn’t know the past of a lot of his servants. He’s never been somebody who researched world history, though he looks through Chaldea’s database for the basics whenever a new servant gets summoned. The incineration of humanity erased a lot of things, but it didn’t erase the human desire to compile stories. 

(Although he thinks that Romani’s decision to cheerful name the database ‘servantwiki’ was a little bit too lighthearted. He’ll never say that to his face, though.)

He’s read the basics of Arjuna’s history. He knows that he killed Karna, and that the two of them are brothers. He’s far from an expert, though, and reading the actual epic itself feels too much like spying. The servants summoned from the throne of heroes are based on human perception more than a strict adherence to their legend anyways. 

He looks at Arjuna’s hands that lay on his lap. He’s wearing his gloves, as always, and he shifts subtly to move from Ritsuka’s gaze. 

Ritsuka considers his options for a long moment, before he scoots in closer and rests against the line of Arjuna’s body. Immediately he tenses like a bowstring, and Ritsuka rests his head against his shoulder. Many of the other servants find this kind of physical affection relaxing, and right now, Ritsuka thinks that getting his feelings across to Arjuna is more important than keeping up appearances. 

“I don’t think so,” he says, his arm coming around Arjuna’s shoulder. “I mean, obviously not everybody gets a happy ending all the time. People make mistakes and get hurt, but… The whole point of servants is that you get a second chance, right? The idea that even somebody who screwed up the first time around can fix it, and be happy this time. No matter how long the world exists, there’s always a chance a hero from a tragedy can be summoned and get that second chance.” 

Arjuna is still beside him, his eyes focused on his master’s. Ritsuka can’t quite parse his expression, but he smiles at him anyways. 

“I’m just talking in general, though. I guess if it’s a modern paperback like this, then it’s different, but. I don’t really like the idea of stories ending badly anyways, so I don’t read those ones.” 

Arjuna is quiet for a long moment, and Ritsuka wonders if he should move. But then the servant relaxes ever so slightly, and his hand twitches as he buries it in Ritsuka’s hair. 

“You’re too close,” he grumbles as he gently pushes him aside, but the skin on his cheeks is darker than normal, and Ritsuka grins at him. His hand is surprisingly gentle when he wants it to be. 

“Do you want to be reading buddies?” Ritsuka asks, and Arjuna’s fingers twitch minutely, but he doesn’t give an immediate response. “I spend a lot of time in here anyways, and I know it’s sometimes nice to be alone, but… It’s nice to talk about books too. And I can give you recommendations. I know a lot of really good ones.” 

He shifts his weight so he’s not leaning on Arjuna anymore, his fingers just gently touching the back of his neck. Arjuna looks down at him, scrutinizing, before the corner of his mouth twitches upwards ever so slightly. 

Ritsuka thinks it’s the first time he’s seem him genuinely smile. 

“You’ll bother me even if I say no,” Arjuna says dryly, and Ritsuka just looks proudly smug. He wouldn’t if Arjuna really wanted to be left alone, but he has a feeling that’s not what he wants at all. The fact that he hasn’t left already is proof of it.

“What do you recommend, after this series?” he asks, and Ritsuka grins, all of his nightmares and worries forgotten. 

“How do you feel about pirates in space?”

**Author's Note:**

> Written for the fateverse holiday exchange on tumblr and twitter for Dirk! I've been meaning to write Arjuna/Gudao for so long so I'm so happy to have had this opportunity.


End file.
